But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died…
—1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 (NRSVUE; full passage)

Our hope in death is not heaven, but Christ’s resurrection. That is our hope, and without that there is no other hope that can truly sustain. Christian lament and mourning are rooted in Christ and His resurrection, even as they experience the full range and depth of human emotion.

For more on this theme, read: My Grandfather’s Passing (Hope in Death?).

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